Determining application usage relative to a particular location

ABSTRACT

A mobile device collects information about application usage and associates collected application information with a location of the mobile device and a time that the application is accessed. The application is stored on the mobile device or on an external device and accessed via a network. The application information, location of the mobile device and time the application is accessed are communicated to another device and stored in a storage device which may be operated or managed by a service provider or another entity. The application information may comprise identification of a website, a network device or URL, the application and/or data that is input and/or output from the application. The location of the mobile device and/or the time, are determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or utilizing information from a network device. The application information, the location of the mobile device and/or the time may be utilized for targeted advertising.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application makes reference to, claims priority to, and claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/303,931, filed onFeb. 12, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

This application makes reference to:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,947 which was filedon Feb. 16, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,849 (Attorney Docket Number20997U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,100 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,142 (Attorney Docket Number21000U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,114 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/729,184 which was filed on Mar. 22,2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,168 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,913 (Attorney Docket Number21002U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,128 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,159 (Attorney Docket Number21003U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/311,879 which was filedon Mar. 9, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,922 (Attorney Docket Number21004U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,193 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/729,197 which was filed on Mar. 22,2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,205 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,177 (Attorney Docket Number21006U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/312,979 which was filedon Mar. 11, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,106 (Attorney Docket Number21007U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/312,994 which was filedon Mar. 11, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,175 (Attorney Docket Number21008U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/303,794 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,197 (Attorney Docket Number21009U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/312,970 which was filedon Mar. 11, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,973 (Attorney Docket Number21010U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,198 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,940 (Attorney Docket Number21011 US02) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,210 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,194 (Attorney Docket Number21012U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/306,387 which was filedon Feb. 19, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,212 (Attorney Docket Number21014U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/303,975 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,039 (Attorney Docket Number21015U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/305,174 which was filedon Feb. 17, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/732,986 (Attorney Docket Number21016U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/314,521 which was filedon Mar. 16, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,016 (Attorney Docket Number21018U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,240 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/722,408 which was filed on Mar. 11,2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/304,253 which was filedon Feb. 12, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,240 (Attorney Docket Number21023U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/309,260 which was filedon Mar. 1, 2010;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,104 (Attorney Docket Number21024U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/306,639 which was filedon Feb. 22, 2010; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/748,010 (Attorney Docket Number21025U502) which was filed on Mar. 26, 2010.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication systems.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate todetermining application usage relative to a particular location.

2. Background Art

Location-based services (LBS) are emerging as a new type of value-addedservice provided by mobile communication network. LBS are mobileservices in which the user location information is used in order toenable various LBS applications such as, for example, enhanced 911(E-911), location-based 411, location-based messaging and/orlocation-based friend finding services. A location of a mobile devicemay be determined in different ways such as, for example, usingnetwork-based technology, using terminal-based technology, and/or hybridtechnology, which is a combination of the former technologies. Manypositioning technologies such as, for example, Time of Arrival (TOA),Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Enhanced Observed TimeDifference (E-OTD) as well as the Global navigation satellite-basedsystems (GNSS) such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, and/or Assisted-GNSS(A-GNSS), may be utilized to estimate the location (latitude andlongitude) of the mobile device and convert it into a meaningful X, Ycoordinate for LBS applications. A-GNSS technology combines satellitepositioning and communication networks such as mobile networks to reachperformance levels allowing the wide deployment of Location-BasedServices.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for determining application usage relative to aparticular location.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system thatis operable to collect and utilize information regarding applicationsand/or services accessed by a device and corresponding access timeand/or location of the device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mobile device thatis operable to provide to a server, location, time and/or applicationinformation, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary database server thatis operable to store location, time and/or application information, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for reportinglocation, time and/or corresponding device activity to a database serverfor determining targeted services or targeted advertising, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention can be found in a method and systemfor determining application usage relative to a particular location. Oneor more processors and/or circuits in a mobile device may be operable tocollect information about an application, information about accessing ofthe application and/or information about interaction with theapplication by the mobile device. The information about the application,about accessing of the application and/or about interaction with theapplication by the mobile device may be referred to as the applicationinformation. The collected information may comprise one or more of a URLthat is utilized to access a device and/or a website, information aboutany local or remote application that executes subsequent to, and/or as aresult of, utilizing the URL, and content retrieved from the accesseddevice. The application may be stored and/or executed on the mobiledevice or may be stored and/or executed on a device that is external tothe mobile device. In this regard, the application may be accessed viaone or more of a data network, a voice network and/or a mobile devicenetwork, for example.

A location of the mobile device and/or a time may be associated with thecollected application information. The location of the mobile deviceand/or the time may be determined utilizing a GNSS receiver within themobile device and/or may be determined utilizing information from anetwork device, for example. The collected application information, theassociated location of the mobile device and/or the associated time maybe communicated to an external device.

The collected application information may comprise one or more ofidentification of a website, identification of a network device,identification of the application and data that is input and/or outputfrom the application. The collected application information, thelocation of the mobile phone and/or the time may be stored by anexternal device in a storage device, for example, in a database and maybe utilized to determine targeted advertising. The external device maybe operated and/or managed by a service provider for the mobile deviceand/or may be operated and/or managed by another entity.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system thatis operable to collect and utilize information regarding applicationsand/or services accessed by a device and corresponding access timeand/or location of the device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a communication system100. The communication system 100 comprises a plurality communicationdevices 150, of which mobile devices 152, 154 and 156 are illustrated, acellular base station 120, a mobile core network 125, a location server140 comprising a database 142, a satellite reference network (SRN) 170,a plurality of GNSS satellites, of which GNSS satellites 162, 164 and166 are illustrated. In addition, there is shown a wireless access point110, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem 115, the data network 130, anapplication server 180 and a database server 135 comprising a database132.

The plurality of communication devices 150 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicatebased on one or more of a variety of wireless and/or wired communicationprotocols. For example, the plurality of communication devices 150 maybe operable to communicate with one or more of a satellite network, forexample, a GNSS network, a wide area network, for example, a cellularnetwork, a local area network, for example, a WiFi network or WLANand/or a personal area network, for example, via a Bluetooth connection.Exemplary communication devices 150 may comprise a mobile phone, alaptop, a media player, a gaming device, a medical device and/or alocation determination device although the invention is not limited inthis regard. The communication devices 150 may be operable tocommunicate with the database server 135 and/or the application server180 via the communication system 100. For example, one or more of thecommunication devices 150 may be operable to communicate with thedatabase server 135 and/or the application server 180 via the cellularbase station 120, the mobile core network 125 and the data network 130.Moreover, one or more of the communication devices 150 may be operableto communicate with the database server 135 and/or the applicationserver 180 via the wireless access point and the data network 130.Similarly, the communication devices 150 may be operable to communicatevia the communication system 100 with the location server 140.

The communication devices 150 may be operable to determine locationand/or time based on one or more of a variety of methods. For example,the communication devices may be operable to determine location and/ortime autonomously, with assistance data from a network device and/or mayreceive their location and/or a time from a network device within thecommunication system 100 and/or user input. In this regard, one or moreof the plurality of communication devices 150 may comprise a GNSSreceiver and may be operable to determine location utilizing a GNSSsatellite system data, for example, from the GNSS satellites 162, 164and/or 166. The communication devices 150 may be operable to utilizeGNSS satellite data to determine location autonomously and/or withassistance from various network elements, for example, the locationserver 140 and/or the satellite reference network (SRN) 170. In variousembodiments of the invention, other network elements, for example, thewireless access point 110 and/or the DSL modem 115, may be operable toprovide location and/or time information to one or more of thecommunication devices 150 based on their location.

The communication devices 150 may comprise the mobile devices 152, 154and/or 156. One or more of the communication devices 150, for example,the mobile device 152 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that are operable to receive satellite broadcast signalsfrom one or more GNSS satellites that may be in view, for example, theGNSS satellites 162, 164 and/or 166. The mobile device 152 may takevarious GNSS measurements such as pseudorange and/or carrier phase onthe received GNSS signals to calculate navigation information such as,for example, GNSS position of the mobile device 152. In some instances,the mobile device 152 may receive GNSS assistance information that mayenable the mobile device 152 to determine its location.

In various exemplary embodiments of the invention, one or more of thecommunication devices 150 may be utilized to access and/or execute anapplication and/or a service. The application and/or service may bestored on one or more of the communication devices 150 or may be storedon a device in the communication system 150, for example, in the datanetwork 130. The application server 180 may be operable to interact withone or more devices in the communication system 100 via the data network130 and may process requests for services, for example, that may bereceived via the data network 130. In this regard, the applicationserver 180 may comprise an application that the communication devices150 may interact with. When the application is accessed via the datanetwork 130, the application may be referred to as an on-lineapplication. For example, the application may be utilized when one ormore of the communication devices 150 accesses a website or a servicevia the data network 130.

In instances when one or more of the communication device 150, forexample, the mobile device 152 executes a locally stored applicationand/or accesses an on-line application, the mobile device 152 maydetermine its location and/or a time associated with the executionand/or the access of the application. The mobile device 152 maycommunicate information about the application, the location of themobile device 152 and/or the time that the application that was accessedand/or executed, to a server, for example, to the database server 135 orto the location server 140. This information may be referred to as thelocation, time and/or application information. In various exemplaryembodiments of the invention, the location, time and/or applicationinformation may be communicated to, for example, a service provider, anorganization, a business or an individual. The location, time and/orapplication information may be utilized for a variety of purposes, forexample, for targeted advertising, for targeted communications and/orfor providing services to, for example, device users or to the generalpublic. In this regard, the recipients of the targeted information maybe located at a particular place and/or at a particular time. Inaddition, for example, the location, time and/or application informationmay be utilized to determine demographic information about people in aspecified area and/or at a specified time. Other activity and/or eventsthat occur in the communication devices 150 may be monitored, timeand/or location stamped and reported to the database server 135 and/orthe location server 140. For example, phone calls made and/orinteraction with users and/or other elements within the communicationnetwork 100, for example, with the mobile core network 130 may bereported.

The database server 135 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to send and/or receive datavia the data network 130. For example, the database server 135 maycomprise a network device that is attached to the Internet or a privatenetwork. In addition, the database server 135 may comprise the database132 that may be utilized to store the location, the time and/or theapplication information received from one or more of the communicationdevices 150. In this regard, the information stored in the database 132may comprise information about various activities and/or applicationsexecuted on the mobile devices 150 and/or about various on-lineapplications accessed by the mobile devices 150. For example, theapplication information may comprise information about websites, contentand/or services accessed by the mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156. Inaddition, a location and/or the time corresponding to when anapplication is accessed and/or executed by one or more of the mobiledevices 152, 154 and/or 156 may be stored in the database. In anexemplary embodiment of the invention, the database server 135 and/orthe location server 140 may receive the location, time and/orapplication information from one or more of the communication devices150 via the cellular base station 120, the mobile core network 125and/or via the data network 130. Alternatively, the database server 135and/or the location server 140 may receive the location, time and/orapplication information from one or more of the communication devices150 via the wireless access point 110, the DSL modem 115 and the datanetwork 130.

The GNSS satellites 162, 164 and/or 166 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to generate andbroadcast satellite navigational information. The broadcast satellitenavigational information may be retrieved and utilized by one or more ofthe mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156 to calculate their locationand/or to determine time. Moreover, the GNSS satellites 162, 164 and/or166 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code thatmay be operable to generate and broadcast satellite navigationalinformation for the SRN 170. The broadcast satellite navigationalinformation may be collected by the SRN 170 to be utilized by thelocation server 140 and/or the mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156 toenhance location based services (LBS) performance and/or assist inlocation determination. The GNSS satellites 162, 164 and/or 166 maycomprise GPS, Galileo, and/or GLONASS satellites.

The SRN 170 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that are operable to acquire, collect and/or distribute data fromGNSS satellites on a continuous basis. The SRN 170 may comprise aplurality of GNSS reference tracking stations located around the worldto provide assisted GNSS coverage. The SRN 170 may be communicativelycoupled with the location server 140, the data network 130 and/or themobile core network 125, for example.

The location server 140 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that are operable to access the satellitereference network (SRN) 170 and may collect GNSS satellite data. Thelocation server 140 may track GNSS constellations through the SRN 170.The location server 170 may be operable to utilize the collected GNSSsatellite data to generate GNSS assistance data comprising, for example,ephemeris data, long term orbit (LTO) data, reference positions and/ortime information for assisting in location determination by mobiledevices and/or network devices. The location server 140 may provide theGNSS assistance data to one or more of the mobile devices 152, 154 and156 via the mobile core network 120 and the cellular base station 120.Alternatively, the location server 140 may provide the GNSS assistancedata to one or more of the mobile devices 152, 154 and 156 via the DSLmodem 115 and the wireless access point 110 for location determinationassistance.

In various exemplary embodiments of the invention, the location server140 may comprise a database 142 that may be utilized to store thelocation, time and/or application information from one or more of thecommunication devices 150. Similar with respect to the database 132 inthe database server 135, information stored within the database 142 maycomprise information about various applications executed on the mobiledevices 152, 154 and/or 156 and/or about various on-line applicationsaccessed by the mobile devices. In an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, the location server 140 may receive the location, time and/orapplication information from one or more of the communication devices150 via the cellular base station 120, the mobile core network 125and/or via the data network 130. Alternatively, the location server 140may receive the location, time and/or application information from oneor more of the communication devices 150 via the wireless access point110, the DSL modem 115 and the data network 130.

The mobile core network 125 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide an interface forone or more wireless access networks such as, a CDMA network, a GSMnetwork, a UMTS network, and/or a WiMAX network and an external network,such as a packet data network (PDN), for example, the Internet or aprivate network. For example, the mobile core network 125 may provide aninterface for the cellular base station 120 and the data network 130.The mobile core network 125 may be operable to handle various voiceand/or data services. The mobile core network 125 may be operable toprovide access to the data network 130, the location server 140, the SRN170 and/or the database 135 to users of the mobile core network 125,such as, users of the mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156. In variousembodiments of the invention, the mobile core network 125 may handlelocation, time and/or application information from the communicationdevices 150 and may forward the information to the database server 135and/or the location server 140, for example. Alternatively, the mobilecore network 125 may comprise a database such as the data base 132 andmay store the location, time and/or application information from thecommunication devices 150. For example, a service provider correspondingto the mobile core network 125 may manage, utilize and/or distribute thelocation, time and/or application information.

A cellular base station such as the cellular base station 120 maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that areoperable to manage and schedule communication resources in an uplinkdirection and/or downlink direction to various mobile devices such asthe mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156. The cellular base station 120may be operable to communicate via radio frequency signals with themobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156 using air interface protocols thatmay be specified for CDMA, GSM, UMTS, and/or LTE radio access, forexample. The cellular base station 120 may be operable to communicatethe location, time and/or application information from the mobiledevices 152, 154 and/or 156, via the mobile core network 125, to one ormore of the database server 135, the data network 130, the locationserver 140. Furthermore, the cellular base station 120 and/or the mobilecore network 125 may be operable to determine location and/or timeinformation for the communication devices 150 that corresponds to theapplication information and/or may communicate the information to one ormore of the database server 135 and/or the location server 140, forexample.

The wireless access point 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that are operable to provide wireless access forone or more of the communication devices 150 to a wireless or wirednetwork using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards or other local areaor short range networking technologies. The wireless access point 110may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that maybe operable to handle communication between one or more of thecommunication devices 150 and one or more of the data network 130, thedatabase server 135 and/or the location server 140, for example, via theDSL modem 115. In this regard, the location, time and/or applicationinformation corresponding to one or more of the communication devices150 may be communicated to the location server 140 and/or to thedatabase server 135 via the wireless access point 110. In variousembodiments of the invention, the wireless access point may be operableto self locate and may provide location information for one or more ofthe communication devices 150 based on one or more of its own location,the location of the DSL modem 115 and/or of another device that may belocated near the access point 110. U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/748,177 filed on Mar. 26, 2010 which is incorporated herein in itsentirety provides additional information regarding self-locating awireless access point.

The data network 130 may comprise suitable devices, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that are operable to support data communicationbetween one or more of the mobile devices 150 and one or more of theapplication server 180, the database server 135 and the location server140. The data network 130 may comprise a single network and/or one ormore interconnected networks. For example, the data network 130 maycomprise a private network or may comprise the Internet. In variousembodiments of the invention, the data network 130 may supportcommunication based on the Internet Protocol Suite of standards.

In operation, one or more of the communication devices 150, for example,the mobile device 152 may be utilized to execute and/or access anapplication. The application may be stored within the mobile device 152and/or may be stored in another device that may be accessible via thecommunication system 100. For example, the mobile device 152 may accessan on-line application, a website and/or service in the applicationserver 180 via the data network 130. Various content may be retrievedfrom the application server, for example, a train schedule, a shoppinglocation guide and/or a web based video game. The mobile device 152 mayinternally store various information, for example, various informationabout executed or accessed applications, content that may be retrievedfrom a website, a service that may be utilized, a URL and/or a websiteaccessed. The various information may be referred to as applicationinformation. For example, the mobile device 152 may monitor and/or storeapplication information regarding content accessed and/or data processedby an application, a service and/or the website. In addition, the mobiledevice 152 may determine and store its location and/or a correspondingtime, comprising from where and/or when the application is executedand/or accessed, the service is utilized, the website is accessed and/orthe application information is stored. The mobile device 152 may accessthe cellular base station 120 and/or may access the wireless accesspoint 110 and may communicate the determined location, time and/or theapplication information to one or both of the database server 135 andthe location based server 140, for example. The location, time and/orapplication information may be stored in the database 132 and/or thedata base 142, for example. The database server 135 and/or the locationserver 140 may store, analyze and/or forward the location, time and/orapplication information to another device. For example, the databaseserver 135 may communicate the location, time and applicationinformation to a service provider or another entity such as public orprivate organization. The location, time and/or application informationmay be utilized for a variety of purposes, for example, for targetedadvertising, for communication and/or for providing services to deviceusers and/or to the general public at specified location and/or at aspecified time. In addition, for example, the location, time and/orapplication information may be utilized to determine demographicinformation about people in a specified area and/or at a specified time.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mobile device thatis operable to provide to a server, location, time and/or applicationinformation, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a mobile device 200. The mobiledevice 200 may comprise a GNSS receiver 202, a cellular transceiver 204,a host processor 206 and a memory 208.

The mobile device 200 may be similar and/or substantially the same asone or more of the communication devices 150, for example, the mobiledevice 200 may be similar and/or substantially the same as one or moreof the mobile devices 152, 154 and 156. The location, time and/orapplication information is described with respect to FIG. 1. Forexample, the application information may comprise information regardingactivity performed and/or content consumed on the mobile device 200and/or regarding activity performed and/or data processed on-line or ina network device, based on communication from the mobile device 200.

The GNSS receiver 202 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to detect and receive GNSS signals froma plurality of visible GNSS satellites such as the GNSS satellites 162,164 and/or 166. The GNSS receiver 202 may be operable to utilize thereceived GNSS signals to calculate location information such as a GNSSposition of the GNSS receiver 202 and/or determine a time, for example.In various embodiments of the invention, the GNSS receiver may utilizeinformation from the location based server 140 for assisted and/orenhanced GNSS based location determination. The location and/or timeinformation may be provided to the host processor 206 and/or may bestored in the memory 208.

The wireless transceiver 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate based on oneor more radio access protocols, for example, CDMA, GSM, UMTS, LTE,WiMAX, WiFi, Bluetooth and/or Zigbee, although the invention is notlimited in this regard. For example, the wireless transceiver 204 may beoperable to communicate with the cellular base station 120 and/or thewireless access point 110. In various embodiments of the invention, themobile device 200 may comprise a plurality of such wirelesstransceivers.

The host processor 206 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to manage and/or controloperations of mobile device 200 components such as the GNSS receiver 202and/or the cellular transceiver 204. In addition, the host processor 206may be operable to activate or deactivate one or more associated radiossuch as the GNSS receiver 202 and/or the wireless transceiver 204 asneeded for communicating information. In various embodiments of theinvention, the host processor 206 may be operable to manage execution ofapplications that may be stored in the memory 208. In addition, the hostprocessor 206 may be operable to manage access to one or moreapplications, websites and/or services via the mobile core network 125and/or via the data network 130. The host processor 206 may be operableto store information regarding interactions and/or data processed by theapplications, websites and/or services that are accessed in the memory208. In addition, the host processor may be operable to store a locationof the communication device 200 and a time stamp when the deviceexecutes and/or accesses an application, a website and/or a service. Inthis regard, the location may be determined by the GNSS receiver and/orby another device in the communication system 100. The host processor206 may be operable to communication the location, time and/orapplication information to the database server 135 and/or to thelocation server 140.

The memory 208 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store information such as executableinstructions and data that may be utilized by the host processor 206and/or other device components such as, for example, the GNSS receiver202 and the cellular transceiver 204. The memory 208 may comprisestorage on the mobile device 200 for the location, time and/orapplication information. The memory 208 may comprise RAM, ROM, lowlatency nonvolatile memory such as flash memory and/or other suitableelectronic data storage.

In operation, the mobile device 200 which may be positioned at a certainlocation and time, may execute an application and/or access a website.The host processor 206 may request that the time and/or the location ofthe device 200 may be determined and/or may be stored in the memory 208.The host processor 206 may monitor activity on the mobile device 200.For example, the host processor 206 may monitor which application,website and/or service may be accessed. The host processor 206 maymonitor content that is accessed and/or data that is processed by theapplication, website and/or service. The host processor 206 may storeinformation about the monitored activity in the memory 208. Furthermore,the host processor 206 may communicate the information about themonitored activity, for example, the location, time and/or applicationinformation, to the database server 135 and/or to the location server140. In this regard, the information about the monitored activity may betransmitted by the wireless transceiver 204 to the cellular base station120 or to the wireless access point 110 depending on the protocolsupported by the transceiver 204.

In an exemplary operation, the host processor 206 may be operable tomanage and/or to control operations of, for example, the GNSS receiver202 and/or the cellular transceiver 204, depending on correspondingneeds. For example, the host processor 206 may be operable to coordinatethe operations of the GNSS receiver 202 and the cellular transceiver 204to simultaneously receive GNSS signals from GNSS satellites andcommunicate with the cellular base station 120 and/or the wirelessaccess point 110.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary database server thatis operable to store location, time and/or application information, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3,there is shown, a database server 300, a processor 302, a database 304and a memory 306.

The database server 306 may be similar and/or substantially the same asthe database server 135 and/or the location server 140 that aredescribed with respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The database 304 may besimilar and/or substantially the same as the database 132 and/or thedatabase 142 described with respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Furthermore,the location, time and/or application information is described withrespect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2

The memory 306 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store information such as executableinstructions and data that may be utilized by the processor 302 and/orother units such as the database 304. The memory 306 may comprise RAM,ROM, low latency nonvolatile memory such as flash memory and/or othersuitable electronic data storage.

The processor 302 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to manage and/or control operations ofthe database 304 and the memory 306. The processor 302 may be operableto collect location, time and/or application information that may bereceived from the communication devices 150 and may store theinformation within the memory 306. The processor 302 may utilize thecollected location, time and/or application information to build thedatabase 304. In various embodiments of the invention, the informationin the database 304 may be configured in such a manner as to enableanalysis and/or manipulation of the location, time and/or applicationinformation. The information in the database 304 may be accessible forcommunication to various devices, for example, devices in thecommunication system 200.

In operation, the database server 300 may comprise a device that iscommunicatively coupled with a network, for example, the data network130 and/or the mobile core network 125. The database server may beoperated by any suitable entity, such as a service provider, an LBSservice, a business, a government or public organization and/or anindividual, for example. The database server 300 may be operable tocollect and/or organize location, time and/or application informationfrom one or more devices in the plurality of communication devices 150,for example, the mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156. The database server300 may build a database 304 comprising the location, time and/orapplication information. In various embodiments of the invention, thedatabase server 300 may receive the location, time and/or applicationinformation regarding activity initiated and/or performed by one or moreof the communication devices 150 from another device within thecommunication system 100, for example, from the mobile core network 125.In this regard, the mobile core network 125 may be operable to monitoractivity initiated and/or performed by one or more of the communicationdevices 150 and/or may determine a location of the devices and/or a timeat which the activity occurred. The mobile core network 125 may beoperable to communicate the location, time and/or applicationinformation to the database server 300. The location, time and/orapplication information may be communicated to another device forprocessing and/or analysis or it may be processed and/or analyzed by thedatabase server 300 in the processor 302.

In various embodiments of the invention, the location time and/orapplication information may be manipulated, analyzed and/or associatedwith other information. For example, the application information may begeographically mapped or mapped over time. Needs, interests and/orvarious demographic information regarding people at a particularlocation and/or time may be determined based on the location, timeand/or application information. The location, time and/or applicationinformation may be utilized to determine actions that may be taken, forexample, by a business with regard to a specified location and/or time.For example, a service provider may see an excessive amount of datatraffic for on-line gaming applications in a particular area and maymodify radio access resources in the area to accommodate the demand.Alternatively, a business may utilize the location, time and/orapplication information to determine where and/or when to place targetedadvertising. The advertising may be broadcast to communication devicesin a particular geographic area in accordance with the interests and/orneeds of users in the area as indicated by the location, time and/orapplication information. Alternatively, advertising in other forms ofmedia, for example, signs, billboards and/or video streams on a publicdisplay may be placed in a geographic location in accordance with theinterests and/or needs of users in the area as indicated by thelocation, time and/or application information. The invention is notlimited with regard to any specific utility or usage of the location,time and/or application information and may comprise any suitable usageof the information. For example, government, safety services, schoolsand/or medical providers may utilize the location, time and/orapplication information.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for reportinglocation, time and/or corresponding device activity to a database serverfor determining targeted services or targeted advertising, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, in exemplarystep 402, location and/or time for various mobile devices, for example,one or more of the mobile devices 152, 154 and 156, may be determined.Various methods may be utilized to determine the location and/or time,for example, GNSS signals and/or assistance data may be utilized forself location by the mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156 and/or othermethods such as network based location determination. In step 404, thevarious mobile devices 152, 154 and/or 156, may access websites and/ormay execute local or on-line applications. In step 406, informationregarding the applications, websites, content accessed and/or dataconsumed, for example, may be sent to a database server, for example,the database server 300, along with corresponding location and/or timestamps. In step 408, the information regarding applications, websites,content and/or data consumed may be collected and/or stored in adatabase along with the corresponding location and/or time stamps, forexample, the database 304 may be utilized. In step 410, locations of themobile devices and/or the times stamps may be mapped to correspondingapplication or website information. In step 412, services, communicationand/or advertising may be targeted to the mapped locations and/or timesbased on knowledge provided by mapped application usage. The exemplarysteps may end at step 414.

In an embodiment of the invention, one or more processors and/orcircuits in a mobile device, for example, the mobile device 200 may beoperable to collect information about an application, information aboutaccessing of the application and/or information about interaction withthe application by the mobile device 200. The information about theapplication, the accessing of the application and/or the interactionwith the application by the mobile device may be referred to as theapplication information. The collected information may comprise one ormore of a URL that is utilized to access a device, such as theapplication server 180 and/or a website, information about any local orremote application that executes subsequent to and/or as a result ofutilizing the URL, and content retrieved from the accessed device, forexample. The application may be stored and/or executed on the mobiledevice 200 or may be stored and/or executed on a device that is externalto the mobile device 200, for example, the application server 180. Thecollected application may be accessed via one or more of a data network,for example, the data network 130, a voice network and/or a mobiledevice network, for example, the mobile core network 120.

A location of the mobile device 200 and/or a time may be associated withthe collected application information. The location of the mobile device200 and/or the time may be determined utilizing a GNSS receiver, forexample, the GNSS receiver 202 within the mobile device 200 and/or maybe determined utilizing information from a network device, for example,the location server 140 and/or the mobile core network 120. Thecollected application information, the associated location of the mobiledevice 200 and/or the associated time may be communicated to an externaldevice, for example, the database server 300.

The application information may comprise one or more of identificationof a website, identification of a network device, identification of theapplication and data that is input and/or output from the application.The collected application information, the location of the mobile phone200 and/or the time may be stored by an external device comprisingstorage, for example, in the database 132 within the database server 135and may be utilized to determine targeted advertising. The externaldevice may be operated and/or managed by a service provider for themobile device 200 and/or may be operated by another entity.

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a non-transitory computerreadable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machinereadable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machinecode and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for determiningapplication usage relative to a particular location.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements maybe spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: collecting, at a mobiledevice, information about usage of an application; associating, at saidmobile device, a location of said mobile device and a time with saidcollected information; communicating said collected information, saidassociated location of said mobile device and said associated time to adevice external to said mobile device; and receiving targetedinformation from said external device, said targeted information beingdetermined based on said collected information, said associated locationof said mobile device and said associated time.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein said collected information comprises at least one of:accessing of said application by said mobile device; and execution ofsaid application by said mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein said collected information may further comprise at least one of:an identification of a website; a uniform resource locator (URL) that isutilized to access a device or a website; information about anyapplication local to said mobile device, or remote application, thatexecutes as a result of utilizing said URL; content retrieved from saidaccessed device; identification of a network device; identification ofsaid application; and data that is input to or output from saidapplication.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining,at said mobile device, said location of said mobile device using aGlobal Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver associated with saidmobile device; and determining, at said mobile device, said time usingsaid GNSS receiver.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining, at said mobile device, said location and said timeutilizing information received from a network device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said targeted information comprises targetedadvertising.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: accessingsaid application based on one or more of a data network, a voicenetwork, and a mobile device network.
 8. A mobile device comprising: aGlobal Navigation Satellite-based System (GNSS) receiver configured todetermine a location of said mobile device and a time; a processorconfigured to: collect information about usage of an application;associate said location of said mobile device with said collectedinformation; and associate said time with said collected information;and a transceiver configured to communicate said collected information,said associated location of said mobile device, and said associated timeto a device that is external to said mobile device, said transceiverfurther configured to receive targeted information from said externaldevice, said targeted information being determined based on saidcollected information, said associated location of said mobile deviceand said associated time.
 9. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein saidcollected information comprises at least one of: accessing of saidapplication by said mobile device; and execution of said application bysaid mobile device.
 10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein saidcollected information may further comprise at least one of: anidentification of a website; a uniform resource locator (URL) that isutilized to access a device or a website; information about anyapplication local to said mobile device, or remote application, thatexecutes as a result of utilizing said URL; content retrieved from saidaccessed device; identification of a network device; identification ofsaid application; and data that is input to or output from saidapplication.
 11. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein said processor isfurther configured to store and execute said application on said mobiledevice.
 12. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein said processor isfurther configured to access said application via at least one of a datanetwork, a voice network, and a mobile device network.
 13. The mobiledevice of claim 8, wherein: said transceiver is further configured toreceive location information from a network device; and said processoris further configured to determine said location and said time usingboth said location and said time from said GNSS receiver and saidlocation information from said network device.
 14. The mobile device ofclaim 8, wherein said targeted information comprises targetedadvertising.
 15. A server comprising: a network module configured toreceive collected information about usage of an application from amobile device, an associated location of said mobile device, and anassociated time, said collected information having been collected bysaid mobile device; a processor configured to: store said collectedinformation, said associated location, and said time in a database; andgenerate targeted information based on said collected information, saidassociated location, and said time; wherein said network module isfurther configured to transmit said targeted information to said mobiledevice.
 16. The server of claim 15, wherein said server comprises saiddatabase.
 17. The server of claim 15, wherein said server is operated bya business, said processor further configured to analyze said collectedinformation, said associated location, and said associated time todetermine where and when to place targeted advertising.
 18. The serverof claim 15, wherein said server is operated by a service provider, saidprocessor further configured to analyze said collected information, saidassociated location, and said time to determine whether to modifyresources offered by said service provider based on demand in ageographic area.
 19. The server of claim 15, wherein said network moduleis further configured to transmit said targeted information to aplurality of communication devices in a geographic area based on saidcollected information, said associated location, and said associatedtime.
 20. The server of claim 15, wherein said collected informationcomprises at least one of: accessing of said application by said mobiledevice; and execution of said application by said mobile device.